In conjunction with the Museum’s current exhibition Extreme Mammals: The Biggest, Smallest, and Most Amazing Mammals of All Time, this year’s Identification Day will include a display of Museum specimens related to the exhibition, as well as presentations by comic book artists Larry Hama (G.I. Joe, Wolverine, Elektra), Paolo Rivera (Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, X-Men), and Phil Jimenez (Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, New X-Men, TheInvisibles). These artists will draw for visitors and demonstrate how translating mammalian traits into superhero powers created Wolverine, Beast, and other comic characters. During this family-friendly event, children will be invited to sketch their own characters, with advice from the artists.

The American Museum of Natural History’s Identification Day: A Milstein Science Saturday is like a natural history Antiques Roadshow. Visitors are invited to bring in shells, rocks, insects, arrowheads, feathers, fossils, bones, pottery, textiles, or any other natural or cultural object that has had them puzzled and perplexed for a thorough going-over by Museum scientists. Items identified on previous Identification Days include a dinosaur egg, a whale’s jawbone, a green beetle bracelet from Brazil, a sponge-bored conch shell, a 5,000-year-old stone spear point, and fake trilobite fossils from Morocco. Participating in this year’s Identification Day will be scientists and researchers from the departments of Anthropology, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Herpetology, Ichthyology, Ornithology, Invertebrate Zoology, and Paleontology.

Please note: There will be no appraisals, and gemstones will not be identified.

Larry Hama is a comics writer, screenwriter, and actor particularly beloved for his Marvel Comics work on G.I. Joe and Wolverine, including most of the G.I. Joe action figures’ file cards.

Marvel artist Paolo Rivera has become one of the hottest painters in comics today. Through the popular Mythos series, Rivera has illustrated many of Marvels iconic characters including the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the X-Men.

Phil Jimenez is currently under exclusive contract with Marvel comics, working on TheAmazing Spider-Man. To celebrate the inauguration of President Obama, a recent cover (#583) by Phil, “Spidey Meets the President,” featured a Spidey/Obama Team-Up.